five thousand shades of blue
Thursday, March 27, 2003
oh yes
I am here on the east coast and I am doing fine. I've been busy with seeing what's changed (my high school is GONE, destroyed, levelled) and what hasn't, visiting my remaining living grandparent (she's doing well). The eternal travel on Monday to Tuesday kind of wiped me out and I mostly sat like a vegetable in front of the TV: I've seen more war coverage in the past 2 days than I have in total, ever. I finally got to see the Timmy episodes of South Park (my brother has his cel phone ringer set to "Timm-ah!", very disocncerting). I watched
The Gift with Cate Blanchett, which was pretty good, but the ending was kind of sudden and unsatisfying.
Today I have this to look forward to: grocery shopping and cleaning out of my stuff in storage. I won't get to see friends til the weekend, but we talked last night and it was so easy to pick up where we left off. That makes me happy. :)
It's all going so fast. I can't believe it's Thursday already.
Friday, March 21, 2003
thank you
For those of us who
are capable of discerning things in shades of grey, unlike the infantile weenies who stomp their feet and proclaim that deep fried potato slices should be called
freedom fries and
demand that the Statue of Liberty be sent back (I truly hope this is a joke),
this post is a no-brainer. Go, read.
On a slightly less potentially inflammatory note -- or maybe not -- I am glad I brought some CDs with me today, because in about an hour they are playing
seven hours of the Grateful Dead on the radio. I don't mind a song or two, here or there. But not Seven. Hours. Worth.
Thursday, March 20, 2003
tiring and aggravating
That was my day. Every day closer to Monday, my patience gets shorter and shorter. Believe me, I had reason for it today. Let me explain.
There was the slightly loony guy who was parked here most of the day. First he handed me a stack of flyers he'd obviously stolen from bulletin boards
on campus and told me to hang on to them because their importance would become clear soon enough (I looked through them all. No secret confessions to murder or national security classified documents... just televisions for sale and on-campus housing applications). After I caught him trying to steal a book of ours -- Calvin and Hobbes no less! -- I asked him to leave and I'll be damned if he didn't moving like molasses doing it. (Shoulda called security.)
Then there was the guy who was
telling informing me that if he just pays me a dollar for a cup of water, he can get his time on the computer for free. (At our cafe, if you spend a $1 or more on
food or drink, you get 15 minutes on line for free.) I'm like, uh, no... I'm not going to sell you something we give away for free just so you can get free time!
And then the clincher... the bonehead who pulled on the fire alarm thingie
because he thought it was a Take A Number thing! Did he NEVER have fire drills in school? Is it possible for someone to just not be paying that little attention to what they're doing? (Scratch that question!) He's just lucky it happened to NOT be raining at that moment or he would have surely been beaten to a bloody pulp by everyone in this fairly large building.
Yes, very much ready to take a vacation. VERY. MUCH. READY. Monday can't come fast enough.
Oh Yes! Happy Spring!
Tuesday, March 18, 2003
busy as a bee
So yes, it is official, Andra's a supervisor now. Her first day was yesterday. Poor dear looked like she had information leaking out of her ears. It's a lot to learn and assimilate but she's a champ at that, and I suspect she'll be a darn good supervisor in no time flat.
We spent most of the weekend doing happy, celebratory-type things. We took a train trip up to Portland -- a beautiful ride -- and drove back in the new stick-shift car. I'm excited and scared to learn how to drive it.
This week I'm making frantic plans to travel back east. The biggest problem is arranging a ride to the Portland Airport (PDX). It's a 2.5 hour drive from here. The airport shuttle that I called offered a non-stop ground shuttle but they wanted more than a plane ticket between Eugene and Portland ($290, vs $230 for a plane ticket). I briefly considered either the train or Greyhound, except there are no straightforward connections between the train station or the Greyhound station (they're next door) and the airport (to wit: there's a 1/2 mile walk between the stations to the light rail that goes to PDX. I do not fancy walking with a backpack, a suitcase and a purse through an unfamiliar town). I think my plan now is to get a ride to Albany (45 minutes north of here) and take a cheaper, more reliable shuttle from there to the airport. Argh.
Friday, March 14, 2003
yay!
Ok, you didn't hear it from me since nothing is official 'til Monday... but a certain someone got a certain job.
*grin!*
swiped from m&b
A little too prophetic for my liking...
And
Friday Five, which I haven't done in a while:
1. Do you like talking on the phone? Why or why not? No, not really, because I always feel like I'm tripping over my tongue. My ability to edit / present my thoughts orally is very, very bad.
2. Who is the last person you talked to on the phone? The lady at the catalog I'm doing some freelance work for.
3. About how many telephones do you have at home? Three.
4. Have you encountered anyone who has really bad phone manners? Aside from rambling telemarketers that don't let you get a word in edgewise -- hmm. Occasionally the person who doesn't catch the clue that you'd like to hang up now.
5. Would you rather pick up the phone and call someone or write them an e-mail or a letter? Why or why not? Email or letter, because it allows me to carefully choose my words and present my thoughts coherently.
Thursday, March 13, 2003
in love
with
this album on first listen.
(Requires Flash. Go on, listen. It's free.)
hot damn!
I'm going to have Marian do all of my dirty work from now on. She just spoke to Northwest Airlines and got my flight back east, from the 24th to the 31st... of
March. (It helps that she got a competent agent.) The flight on the 24th is a redeye that lands on the 25th in the morning, so I will be sleeping a
lot on Sunday.
Aieeeeeee! Time to prep!
second round
An's second interview is tomorrow at 11:15 am. She only knows of one other person who got a callback, and I think she's way more suited. Let's hope they think so too.
Wednesday, March 12, 2003
miracles do happen
Welcome home, Elizabeth.
I hesitate to say it's a happy ending, because who knows what happened to her in the 9 months she was gone... but being alive sure beats the alternative.
dream little, dream big
Interview went very
very well. Should know their decision by end of day Monday. I will be furiously chewing my nails 'til then.
I also got a couple of nibbles for work (freelance), so it's all a goodness.
One of the first things I want to do
if when An gets the job is get cable back. Damn, I miss Discovery Channel. And watching
24 without a shitload of static.
Tuesday, March 11, 2003
I. Need. To. See. This.
The Police then made perhaps the best argument for a reunion tour in rock and roll history. The trio's chemistry was pulled from the crypt as perfectly preserved as a jar of honey, and all three members seemed to relish the opportunity to dust off "Roxanne" and "Message in a Bottle," with Copeland's cymbal taps and guitarist Summer's efficient and thoughtful guitar fills sounding timeless more than twenty years after the fact.
So, if MTV airs this or whatever, someone please let me know.
good vibrations
Point your vibe launcher our way at 4pm. An's got her interview for the supervisor job at that time.
Monday, March 10, 2003
fell into my lap
I discovered a friend of mine is selling her car because it won't pass the emissions test that Portland requires (but otherwise, it runs fine). She only wants $500, and it's a 1994 Hyundai, which means this will be the first time I've ever had a car that's less than 10 years old. The downside? It's a stick. I've never driven a stick in my life. Yipe.
Many years ago (ok, probably more like 4) we bought a bunch of peel-and-stick tiles on clearance for 75% off at a going out of business sale. Several hours (and many gummy Goo Gone-soaked cottonballs) later, we have a new bathroom floor.
Friday, March 07, 2003
out of control
This is scary.
This is scarier.
ugh
It's Official™: I have a sinus infection. Bleh. (I know, I know. Thank you for sharing.) So I'm on meds and hopefully, I'll be able to hear things normally again soon. I plan on resting a lot this weekend.
Thursday, March 06, 2003
lesson learned: haste makes waste, and an annoyed san
Oh yes, I forgot to mention... yesterday afternoon, in my rush to get some shopping done and get myself off to the fitness center to partake in a little bit of steam room and a little bit of hot tub (an effort to clear out my head, you understand), I... locked my keys in the truck and had to spend the time instead waiting for roadside assistance. I was Not Amused.
thank goodness for insurance
Yesterday my ears were so congested that I could barely hear. I have an appointment today at 4:15pm to see a doctor -- I'm pretty sure it's a sinus infection, judging from past bouts, length of annoyance of my sinuses, and the fact that the medication I've been taking (psuedoephedrine) is doing nothing but make me thirsty. Oh, and sleeping a full night's sleep should leave one feeling well rested, not utterly beat like I did this morning. Honestly, I almost fell asleep standing at the bus stop.
So, I think it'll cost me $15 for the office visit and probably $5-10 for any prescription I might need. Not too bad.
No word yet on the possible supervisor position. No progress with the house situation, though we're still exploring other avenues. No progress either with trying to redeem my free frequent flyer ticket. Not impressed with
Northwest Airlines' change in policy since 1998 (the last time I redeemed a free ticket, which was a piece of cake). Sigh.
Wednesday, March 05, 2003
public transportation can be depressing
This morning, I remembered why I like to have a book with me when I ride the bus.
The man in front of me was talking to a woman across the aisle, someone he obviously knew, and his voice was filled with disappointment and heartache as he told her about showing up on Monday to a new job only to have them say that they'd left him a message over the weekend to tell him the job offer had been withdrawn. His dogs are losing their foster care today. He's sick. And she? She has a job, talked about having job training at the courthouse or the county building or something, and she's still homeless, and needs help paying for her depression meds.
I'm thankful for what I have, feel so badly for those who don't have. And you know, I'd love W. and his rich cronies to spend one day riding the bus in this town,
any town, because I don't think any of them truly know how bad it is right now.
Tuesday, March 04, 2003
buh-bye
A friend of mine told me that the comments were actually taking so long to load that it timed out the whole page. I've been debating removing the comments for a while now -- I'm thankful for free comments services for those of us who can't host our own, but I don't find it so essential that I'm willing to bog down the whole page. Maybe someday I'll be able to switch hosts. But if you have something you absolutely must tell me, email me (link on bottom right of page). I may even post the really good ones.
and now for something completely different...
Last night Andra bought a new tarot deck, the Robin Wood. It's one that I have but since mine was a gift from a friend I haven't seen in a while, I didn't feel right giving mine to her, and tarot decks are really not meant to be shared. Turns out the one that I really liked and wanted was the one she had and didn't want any more, so now I have the Witches' Tarot.
Before I went to bed, I meditated on the current nailbiter, whether or not An will get the supervisor position. First I picked up my Robin Wood deck and saw The Fool staring at me. I then picked a card randomly; it was the King of Cups. Cups are all about material comfort so I found that to be a positive sign. I then picked up the Witches' Tarot and the card I picked at random... was The Fool again. "Today is the first day of the rest of your life", and good things coming. I'll take that as a sign, if you don't mind.
Monday, March 03, 2003
03-03-03
Wishing Rhonda a
very happy 33rd birthday. And there are 303 days left in the year! SPOOKY.
Happy belated to the awesome Jerry. :)
I had a pretty good weekend. Spent the day in Corvallis at an educational SCA event (classes!) on Saturday, and Sunday stayed mostly at home, reading, folding laundry, and helping An tweak her resumé for the supervisor position. It's been delivered along with the 'internal transfer form', so it's out of our hands now. We are sooo hoping....
Other misc.:
Thierry, I'm reading "The Angel of Darkness" right now and I love it as much as "The Alienist". :)
I am five pounds away from being down to the weight I was when I moved to Oregon in 1996. W00t!
Have discovered a sugar free chocolate nutella like substance that is absolutely scrummy (except, it's minus the hazelnut).
I got an email this weekend -- but I only saw it today -- that our Mongolian foster child, Uchral, will be coming to visit my town with her new family in August. I am BEYOND excited. :D
is
this just not enough…?
